In the Indian tradition, it is customary to judge people by the hand of where they were born; under which family or under which group people. In India they use the caste system, and if you are born in the lowest caste, among the 'outcasts' or 'the untouchables', then you don't make a pretense of it for the rest of your life chance more. You no longer count. The Buddha has such a humiliating system has always been strongly criticized.
There was a certain Sunita who was a garbage collector and was born (in the eyes of the people) in the so-called caste of the outcasts. People looked down on him a lot. She had such self-importance that when their shadow fell on Sunita, they kicked and beat until they bled. But one day he met the Buddha who was doing his begging round at that time. His peaceful look and the kindness of the Buddha made a huge impression on Sunita. No one had ever been so kind to him. When the Buddha gave him asked if he wanted to become a monk and he asked the world he was in wanted to leave, Sunita took advantage of it immediately. They took him to the temple where he was consecrated. Like others, he got a monk's robes through which the humiliating caste system ceased for him to exist.
By practicing with great determination, Sunita became one of the Arahats. There was also a certain Sopaka who was born in the lowest caste. He too became a student of the Buddha and he too attained the highest goal that a man can attain. With this, the Buddha showed that one does not become an outcast because of birth, but solely by his deeds. In the Vasala Sutta Snp1-07 the Buddha states unequivocally who is and who is not an outcast. is.
See the People page at Sunita for more about this person.
| Auteur: Peter van Loosbroek -- Ananda Copyright: www.sleuteltotinzicht.nl/glb_copyright.htm |